Business: Southern Tide
Address: 120 Water St., Naperville
Phone, website: 331-814-3736, www.southerntidenaperville.com
Owner’s name: Loren and Amy Beadle
Opening date: October 2016
What does this business sell? “Southern Tide is an apparel brand that was created in Greenville, S.C., about nine years ago. It was a young individual, just out of college, and he created a polo shirt. Added some stretch to it, 7 percent, and people fell in love with it. And literally nine years, well, almost 10 years ago now, that was the only product they made,” Loren Beadle said. “Since then the brand has expanded to what is now an $80 million company. They are now in 850 stores around the country, and this (Naperville location) is the third signature store ever. We opened the first one on Kiawah Island in South Carolina in 2015; we opened up the second one in Greenville, S.C., which is their hometown, in July 2016; and we opened this one in October 2016.”
What was the impetus for opening this store? “Because of this (Water Street District) development,” said Beadle, who divides his time between Wheaton and Kiawah Island. “It is for anyone who enjoys an active lifestyle. We call this line ‘coastal.’ We see it as athletic- and performance-oriented. And even our nicer dress shirts, we call these sports shirts in the business, but really it’s a dressier shirt, full button-down.”
What made you choose Naperville’s Water Street District? “We love this location for two reasons. The parking garage behind us, with 500 parking spaces — we wouldn’t be here if that didn’t exist. And secondly, we love Hotel Indigo (also in the district). (With) 155 rooms, it’s the only hotel in downtown Naperville. … We’re on track to open SixtyFour, the wine bar, in June (in the same area).”
When is your busiest time of year? “In the South, it’s obviously the summer. … Here, in Naperville, it’s a little bit more spring and fall, a little bit less in the middle of the summer. Easter was really busy. Mother’s Day we expect to be really busy. And going back to school.”
What is the most popular thing you sell? “It’s these performance dress shirts,” assistant manager Sarah Murphy said. “It’s fairly new, and they also have grommets, so it’s nice. And a lot of them have the logo directly on the front, so it’s nice for those who want to wear it under a blazer to work but don’t want to like, say, ‘I’m wearing a certain brand,’ but enjoy the brand themselves.”
What is a less popular thing you would recommend? “Until about three years ago, there wasn’t really a women’s line at Southern Tide,” Loren Beadle said. “It was a men’s-only brand. They started doing a little bit of kids, boys only. Since then we’ve developed a full line of women’s apparel. But most of this (in the Naperville store) is women’s Southern Tide.”
What is the thing you most like to do as part of your business? “I think it’s having wonderful people work for us and giving them careers and opportunities to grow.”
What is your least favorite thing to do? “Paperwork. Any kind of paperwork.”
What is the best thing about owning your own business? “The challenges of every day. The fun of every day.”
What is the biggest downside? “The same thing. The challenges of every day.”
What is the biggest misconception about the brand? “People still think of Southern Tide as a men’s-only brand. People don’t know as much about the women’s side of the brand. It’s a similar style. It’s classic, it’s coastal, generally brighter colors. We think it’s quite lovely. And it’s also a little outdoorsy and performance-oriented.”
Tell us a little about your second venture, SixtyFour — A Wine Bar. “It’s named SixtyFour because we feature 64 wines by the glass every day. We use these automated units called wine stations. When you come in, we give you a smart card that you’ll stick right in here, and that’ll let you select a 1-ounce taste, a 21/2-ounce half-glass or a 5-ounce full glass, of any of those 64 wines. … But in addition to that, we are also a retail shop. We will have about a thousand different wines to go.”
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Daina Saleh is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.